Liquid Sky
by M. Kye
Summary: A girl finds herself in a graveyard under the rain, despair in her heart and strength fading. Déjà vu? Small, quietly sad one-shot that I just had to get out of my system. Enjoy.


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Disclaimer: I don't own Noir, I'm just a fan. Title from Queensrÿche.

Note 1: to Shigan, LeeT911, makingtea, cherry-ripe, Teris24, Spritedust, hanyou, DAngel and fan-rei who read, reviewed and enjoyed my previous works, thanks a lot! Shigan: a beta is a wonderful idea - do you know where I can find one? LeeT911: any mistakes are probably due to my imperfect knowledge of the English language - could you point out to me the ones you found?

Note 2: Comments/criticisms on style as well as substance are welcome, as usual.

Note 3: Poetry is not my forte, but in this specific case I thought a bit of it might fit in well. I humbly submit that idea – and the verse - to public opinion :-)

------------------------------------- Liquid Sky ------------------------------------

_Now done, now gone, from empty fields departed_

_Alone, where the sun never shines_

Rain.

A world draped in shades of indifference. The vibrant hues of autumn leaves had been gnawed away by a dark, sick muddy brown that told of decaying hours, and even the shifting light of their memory had dimmed and faded into the void of routine days forgotten, washed away by the grey, monotonous, seemingly unending curtain of bloated raindrops.

The ghostly pale glint of water felt like a thousand malevolent beholders casting accusatory glances as they paraded down around her, down from the cruel, indifferent sky to the beckoning embrace of the earth, an army of cold stares winking in mockery of her plight.

Was there no way out?

_Rain - does it always fall the same way_

_Colourless flow bleeding from the sky_

Rain falling.

The myriad joyful sounds that weaved the chaotic symphony of the living were gone, subdued and smothered by the slow but unceasing rhythm of drops splashing on pavement. Even the quiet peace silence usually brought had been shattered, its tiny shards maddeningly ticking away the seconds as they fell towards an oblivion they would never reach, half-flooded by the gargling whisper of rivulets flowing down the gutters to an unknown fate.

Each single little drop bursting with a wet, muffled cry as it met its end was a barb added to the bars imprisoning her, a distant echo of death as bodies piled in her mind. A hail of wordless judgements fell upon her for the hail of lives lost, always ending with the same flash of remembrance.

Would memories ever fade?

_Barren fields of silence never sown and decayed_

_No life blooms where the heavens cry_

Her clothes were drenched, chilling her to the bone, sending shivers coursing through her back and legs. Her shoes made spongy sounds each time she shifted her feet. Her hair was soaked, thick locks plastered over her head and falling on her face, hiding her downcast eyes.

She didn't care.

Rain was flowing down her brow and temples over her face, mingling with hidden tears and washing them away but never soaking a grief that was as unending as the overcast sky. Muffled voices surrounded her but she was not heeding them, lost in her inner world of despair and bottomless sorrow. They droned at the edge of her dimming awareness, rising and dying one after the other in a wan choir of indifference.

After a while, they subsided. Splashing sounds marked the passing of shuffling feet as ghosts glided by her and faded away, mumbling words without meaning, leaving her alone in a nightmare she could not escape.

_In darkness, where shades restlessly wander_

_Out of my heart and out of sight_

A graveyard.

She remembered, an excruciating stab as images flashed forth again.

She tasted salt mingled with soot on her lips, tears and acrid rain merged into a single stream in which even her grief had been drown into insignificance. Her hand, tucked in her pocket, was clenched on a cold, hard, blocky item, edges biting painfully in her flesh as desperate strength tightened the grip even further.

Her gaze wandered away from her feet, glancing by the puddles on the path and towards a grey, rectangular shape. One among several others, lined up to the side of the cobblestoned alley. The sharp edges and smooth surface were still not marred by the pitiless passing of time, and the writing was still clear, no moss or weed nibbling at the legacy etched in the stone.

Her heart caught in her throat as she made a step towards the grave.

Pain - did it ever end?

The sharp ache in her breast was like a blade, slowly piercing her to agony and never stopping, never killing.

The distant rumble of thunder blanketed even the thumping of her heartbeat, drowning the last hint of her life in agonizing ruin, leaving her in a limbo of unravelled existences and encroaching emptiness.

_And words I wrote but never dared to utter_

_Dance as they wither and die_

The words she had never said aloud were echoing through her mind in a mocking, cruel lullaby.

Her legs betrayed her, and she fell to her knees, reaching for the side of the tomb in a desperate plea for support she knew would now never come.

Through the blur of tears, she read the marking she would never forget.

"Mireille Bouquet

1981-2002"

Kirika curled up in a heart wrenching cry, her small figure wracked by excruciating sobs, her hair sliding back and forth to the mute tune of a gloomy dirge only she would ever hear.

_Burial of a world we will never live in together_

_Orphaned of the twinkle in your eyes_

Around her, the rain picked up, blanketing the world under liquid wraps of sadness.

----------------------------------------- End ----------------------------------------

Talk about sad vibes :-)

Inspiration: having watched 'The Darkness Within Me' and 'Morning Without Dawn' straight (now you know why it had to come out quickly). I imagined what would happen if one of Noir died some day after the series, leaving the other alone. I chose Mireille - poor Kirika.


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